By John Majau
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Tharaka Niithi branch secretary Njeru Mutani has said the government should employ teachers according to shortage, claiming the uniform allocation of the 30,000 by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will disadvantage some regions.
He was speaking at his office in Chuka, Tharaka Nithi County, where he said Tharaka Nithi primary schools have are understaffed by 357 teachers and secondary schools have a deficit of 655.
The official said KNUT should have been included in the teachers employing committee for checks and balances.
“We hope the interviews will be transparent in future and we would be included. We are the people who represent the teachers. We know the challenges teachers face and the affirmative action per area,” he said.
Mutani said the previous recruitments in Tharaka Nithi were transparent.
Further, he said teachers are uncomfortable with the current medical scheme that both NHIF and AON offer, adding that the AON cover expires in October.
“We had requested that because of many issues with AON, we should be covered by a comprehensive or enhanced NHIF, which is superior to AON,” Mutani said.
Consequently, he urged the government, through legislation, to increase the allocation of medical insurance from Ksh15 billion to Ksh23 billion.
“When the government was advertising for the tender for a comprehensive cover, NHIF asked for Ksh23 billion. However, AON got the tender after it quoted Ksh15 billion,” the official said, adding: “We are now requesting the government to add the deficit of Ksh8 billion so that teachers can be comfortable with the medical scheme of NHIF.”
